We use our nail clippers to trim really long front teeth and a dremmel tool to even them out. We use pig nippers for fighting teeth, they do grow back but it takes awhile. We also have a mouth tool that opens their mouths up but we can't use it with the fighting teeth it gets in the way. The best thing is to put them in a chute. A few of our boys have to be sedated before we do teeth they just hate it but we do not want them to hurt themselves

My vet used OB wire to whip off four fighting teeth from an older girl (yes, girls can get their canines in too!) I held her, we put a piece of PVC pipe between her jaws to hold them open, and it took all of about five minutes to do all four. No muss, no fuss and she was only mildly grumpy about the entire process.

Over the years we've tried various methods. Most of our experience was with the llamas, who are a heck of a lot bigger, so harder to do. We used nippers at first, until we had a tooth split to below the gumline. It had to be surgically removed. We then tried OB wire, since so many of our fellow breeders used that technique. I didn't like it because of the risk of cutting the llama's mouth or our hands--someone needs to hold the cheeks back to avoid cutting them. You also have to get the wire going fast to cut effectively. I thought it was ungainly. Then we started using a Dremmel, and loved it. It was quick and clean--much quicker than the wire for us. You can take the tooth down as much as you want, whereas the wire often just removes the tip, so has to be repeated more often. We always use the pvc mouthguard, and tend to sedate the boys. I don't like seeing animals in stress, and don't like dental procedures, so a little bit of sedation is perfect--but so much as they lay down. We also bought a cordless rechargeable Dremmel, which is really great! We almost never have to repeat tooth trimmings, so I can't see where the extra stress and recovery from complete extraction would be worth it.

I use a Dremel tool to trim my dogs' nails and it does a great job. Haven't had the nerve to do the teeth on my alpacas yet. Guess I will have to get somebody to help hold the animals so I can do that.Much easier to control a Dremel than the wire thing or nippers.

We use a dremel and I love the results. By using both a cutting blade and a "polishing" bit you can round and smooth their teeth much better than with a wire or nippers. We place the alpaca in the shoot first so that they are restrained and all of us (alpacas too) are safe, we have a large dog's rope toy that is knotted on both ends which holds their mouth open, but is still soft on gums and the back of the mouth. Also - we squirt water on the teeth while they are being cut or filed to keep them cool. Cutting through the teeth can get surprisingly hot - I guess I am too sedated at my dentist to have really noticed.

We have enough ruffage that our guys toes generally only need clipped when they are shorn, but when they are in the shoot - it is really easy to pop open the bottom panel and get to their legs/feet without having to wrestle them.

The shoot was highly recommended to us when we started in alpacas and I would not be without it!

We put them in a chute, then use a small rolled up towel to keep their mouth open. This is soft enough not to hurt their mouth, but keeps it open far enough. One person helps control the head by holding the two ends of the towel, pulling back gently on both sides. The one doing the cutting has one arm around the head holding the bottom jaw and lips, and the other hand holding the dremel tool. If the alpaca is having a really hard time with it, we might need a third person to control the rest of the body. With their mouth wedged open, they don't seem to move their tongue around much. It looks like they sort of pull it as far back inside as they can to get away from the things in their mouth. With the dremel it is over very quickly.

We use the aluminum oxide grinding stone that is sort of bullet-shaped. Takes the tooth down in a heartbeat. We haven't had to retrim any of our llama's teeth yet, although I know some alpaca folks have had to. I've gotten in the habit of glancing at them now and again. We sedate our's, too, but use the vet. I won't sedate my own, because you never know how much they will need or how they will react to it.

We do ours at shearing time while they are already restrained. One person holds the towel in the mouth while the other uses the dremel. We purchased a rope dog toy to try next shearing season. We also have both the diamond wheel and the cone bits. The diamond wheel works well to take of very large excesses and the cone does a good job of shaping and smoothing the edges, or for teeth that are excessively long.Mary Jane